Love at First Annoyance
by trumpetchick9
Summary: How Luke falls in love with Lorelai.
1. Chapter 1

_Credit for these characters goes to Amy Sherman-Palladino _

Luke stared out the diner windows into the town square. He could almost see her standing by the door, as she had one week ago, suitcase in hand. She had told him that she was leaving, that the town was too small, that though she loved him, she just couldn't stay. She had kissed him on the cheek, looked at him for a long moment, then turned and walked out the door. As he watched her curly hair bounce as she disappeared, he knew that a piece of his life was gone. Ever since Rachel left, he'd felt empty. Distracted. He'd never felt that way before, and he didn't like to admit it to anyone, but he knew the entire town could clearly see that he was hurting. That was one of the worst parts of living in Stars Hollow. There was no private grief, only public humiliation.

"Ouch!" Luke heard someone shout. Snapping back into the present, he realized he'd filled Kirk's mug… and more. Coffee had spilled over the brim and splashed Kirk's hand.

"Sorry, Kirk," Luke mumbled, absentmindedly pulling a dish towel out of his back pocket and tossing it to the young man. Kirk, eyeing the somewhat dirty towel suspiciously, proceeded to wipe the spilled coffee off the table.

Luke shook his head. It was a good thing the diner was so busy; it kept him from having to think. He moved around in a blur, taking orders, flipping burgers, serving food, yelling at people who were slow or loud. He was standing with his back to the door, scrawling something on his order pad, when he heard the bell over the door ring and a voice call out, "Coffee!" Luke turned to see a beautiful woman standing before him. She had wild, curly dark hair and vibrant vibrant blue eyes. A short navy skirt and matching tight blazer were all that covered her tall, thin figure.

His breath caught in his throat for a moment before he could answer, "Sit down, and I'll get to you in a minute."

"But I can't wait a minute. I need coffee now!" she said desperately. She leaned forward, clutching his shirt in her hands, and he had to try very hard not to look as the v-neck of her shirt revealed more skin.

"I'll get to you in a minute," he insisted.

Luke delivered a tuna sandwich to a customer, turned, and there was the woman, right in his face again. "Geez!" he shouted. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"I'm sorry, but you don't understand." Tentatively, she said, "I really need some coffee." Her eyes sparkled even more from this distance, and she smelled like a garden.

"I told you to sit down," Luke said sternly. It didn't matter what she looked like; he was not in the mood to deal with a crazy woman in a caffeine frenzy.

Rather than following his instructions, the woman followed him, jabbering at a million words a minute. "Babette told me they have great coffee here. You know Babette? She's my next door neighbor. I just moved here, me and my daughter. She's eleven. My daughter, not Babette." The woman just kept following him around, rambling.

Luke was amazed at her ability to keep talking without even taking a breath. "You're like the Energizer Bunny on drugs," he commented.

She went on, as if she hadn't even heard his comment, or perhaps chose to ignore it. "Anyway, I need coffee daily, I drink it all the time, might as well just hook up a coffee IV. Babette told me you've got great coffee here, which surprised me, because it's a diner, not a coffee shop, but I figured I might as well give it a try, since there don't seem to be any coffee shops in town, and since I just got promoted I can afford to get coffee all the time instead of just drinking it at the Inn. I work at the Independence Inn, and I-"

"Will you just sit sit down?" Luke interrupted, exasperated. The last thing that he wanted to do was to give this maniac more caffeine. "I will get to you when I get to you." He went in the kitchen to help Caeser cook food, and when he came out, he noticed that the pretty, nutty woman was finally sitting, next to Miss Patty. Good, he thought. Let Patty monopolize her for a while.

When the woman looked up and flashed him a smile, he felt his stomach twist into a knot. "What's your birthday?" she yelled across the diner.

"My what?" Luke asked incredulously.

"Birthday. Come on, just tell me." She smiled radiantly, and Luke had no choice to oblige.

The woman began ripping a piece of paper out of the newspaper Patty had in front of her. She turned her head down to scribble something on the scrap of paper, and Luke returned to the back, where he wouldn't have to think about her. She was making his head spin, and that was something that hadn't happened for a long time – not since he'd seen Rachel for the first time. This feeling was so much stronger than it had been with Rachel, though, which scared the hell out of him.

After delivering a patty melt to Andrew, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around to see the woman standing before him again.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but… here." She stuffed the scrap of newspaper into his hand. As her fingers brushed his, his skin tingled, like he'd been pricked with a jolt of electricity. He glanced down at the paper. It was from the horoscope section, he noticed. Under Scorpio, the astrological sign dictated by his birthday, were scrawled the words: "You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away."

He looked up at her. "Are you kidding me?"

"I never kid about caffeine," she spoke solemnly. Their eyes locked, and Luke forgot momentarily that he was in the middle of the diner during a huge lunch rush. This woman had a hold on him, he knew it already.

"Fine. If it will make you go away." Luke held up the piece of paper and gruffly said, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Put it in your wallet. It will bring you good luck," she said, offhanded. He stuffed it into his wallet to appease her, and then motioned for her to follow him.

"Here or to go?" Luke asked.

"Better make it to go. It took so much time to actually get my coffee, I have to get back to work right away," the woman said flippantly. "You sure are slow." She sat down at the counter.

Luke grabbed a paper cup and sat it in front of her. "I'm not slow. You're just impatient," he argued.

She shrugged. "Hey, when someone stands between me and coffee, I can go full-on Matrix."

"I noticed." He began to pour her coffee. "You said you work at the Independence Inn?" he asked, needing to know more about this mysterious woman.

"Yeah. I work at the front desk. My daughter and I lived there, in a shed at the inn, but we just moved into town. I started as a maid, but I got promoted recently so we moved into a house," she babbled, talking just as fast as before.

"I see." He snapped a lid onto the cup. "Well, here you go…"

"Lorelai," she answered, placing a couple of dollars on the counter.

"Lorelai," he repeated softly as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, spun, and walked out the door. He liked the way that her name rolled off of his tongue.

For the rest of the day, the diner remained busy. Luke didn't have a chance to sit down and relax until the end of the day, after he'd mopped and closed up. Relaxing upstairs with a beer, he finally had a chance to reflect. He took out his wallet and pulled the scrap of paper out, staring at it for a second and rubbing it softly between his fingers. The memory of the gorgeous, confident woman drifted back into his mind. She was obnoxious and wild and witty and sexy – and he felt a gnawing desire to see her as soon as possible. Rather than throwing the paper out, he slid it back into his wallet hopefully. She said the horoscope would bring him good luck. Maybe it would bring her to him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke's wish was granted sooner than he expected – the next day, at about 7 in the morning, Lorelai walked into the diner. Actually, it was more like she flew in, a wild caffeine-crazed tornado, with a preteen girl in tow. 

"Hey Duke," she said cheerfully, plopping down at a table near where he was standing. "How's it going?" She talked to him as casually as if she'd known him for her entire life.

"It's Luke," he grumbled, eager to talk to her but not at the expense of his dignity.

"Oh. Right." She spoke innocently enough, but Luke was sure he could see the ghost of a smirk on the woman's face. Was it possible that she was being completely obnoxious on purpose? Why would anyone do that? The bigger question was, why was he enjoying it?

"So, Duke-"

"Luke."

"Whatever." She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and Luke's stomach twisted into a knot. "This is my daughter, Rory."

The young girl lifted her head up from the book she had already buried her nose in and gave Luke a friendly smile. The girl had the hugest blue eyes Luke had ever seen; she was simply adorable. It was hard to believe that this woman, who probably had a pair of devil horns hidden beneath her luscious curly hair, was able to produce such a sweet offspring. "Hello, Luke," the girl said in a bouncy, girlish voice. "My mom told me all about you."

"Oh, goody. I can't wait to hear what she said about me."

"Just that your coffee's amazing. And that you're grumpy," she added as an afterthought.

"How kind of you," he said to Lorelai. As Rory turned her gaze back to the book, he commented, "She must really like to read."

"Sweetie, why don't you put the book down so you can eat breakfast with Mommy?" Lorelai suggested to her daughter, who calmly complied and picked up a menu. Lorelai looked up at Luke. "I'm thinking of having her studied. Seriously, are kids supposed to read this much?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "I don't have a kid. My sister's got a son about that age, though… says he reads all the time. She can hardly get him to do anything else."

"Hmm. Sounds like Rory's soulmate," Lorelai joked. After a brief glance at a menu, she started, "Now then. I guess I'll have bacon and eggs. And two doughnuts. With sprinkles. And tons of coffee."

"Ooo, I want a doughnut too. And pancakes," Rory exclaimed.

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Is that going to be enough food?" he asked sarcastically.

"Actually, I'm not sure. But if it's not enough, we'll order a second round," Lorelai answered, and Luke was a little frightened when he realized she was dead serious.

A few minutes later, after Luke had helped several other customers, the Gilmore girls' breakfast was ready. As he carried the plates of food over to their table, he paused for a moment, watching the serene scene before him. Rory and Lorelai were talking, and the two beautiful dark-haired girls just looked so perfect and angelic. Luke could sense that the mother-daughter bond that the two shared was deep, and he was excited by the prospect of getting to know both.

The illusion was shattered when Lorelai saw him and shouted, in a loud rumbling voice, "Come on, Duke! Get moving! We're hungry!"

Luke deposited the plates on the table and looked at Lorelai like she was crazy. "Are you trying to drive me insane, or am I just imagining it?"

"Who, me?" Lorelai fluttered her eyelashes at him in a most ludicrous fashion. Adopting a ridiculous fake Southern accent, she drawled, "I would never do such a thing to you, Duke!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "She's really something," he said to Rory, jerking his thumb towards Lorelai.

"Oh, this is only the tip of the iceberg," she informed him. "She gets much crazier."

"Good to know."

"So, Duke," Lorelai batted her eyelashes. "Do you know where I could find a handyman around this town?"

Luke gave up correcting her; she was exhausting him. "What do you need a handyman for?"

"What don't I need a handyman for? There's so much wrong with our new house. Our locks don't work, my bedroom window is stuck, the garbage disposal makes a grinding noise... that's just the beginning of the list." Lorelai sighed, then gave him a smile that made him weak at the knees. "Know anyone who can help me?"

"Well, I, uh-" Luke cleared his throat and tried to act casual. "I can come over. To fix some things."

"You're a handyman_ and_ a diner owner?" Lorelai looked at him skeptically.

"Well, no. Not really. I'm just… handy." Luke swallowed uncomfortably. "But if you need some help, I can lend a hand. Because I'm handy." Luke wanted to disappear into the ground. He was so flustered that he sounded like a complete moron.

Luckily, Lorelai either didn't notice, or was also well-versed in Moron and didn't care. He was betting it was the latter of the two. "That would be great!" she grinned. "Thanks, Luke."

"You called me Luke," he observed, taken aback.

"Well, now, I don't want to bite the hand that fixes garbage disposals," she replied. "You want to come over tonight and take a look?"

"Uh, yeah. Tonight."

"It's a date."

As Luke retreated, he shook his head. He couldn't believe that he was going to go over to her house tonight. Just yesterday they'd met, and already, she had him wrapped around his little finger. What was going on? Women rarely were able to work their way into his heart. He'd known Rachel since he was a child, and it wasn't until a few years ago that he'd begun to have any feelings for her. But then Lorelai came along, and already he was carrying around a small piece of hope (quite literally). She did something to him.


	3. Chapter 3

When Luke rapped his knuckles against the door, he wondered what would become of his evening, realizing that, as with most of his Lorelai encounters, he probably had no idea what he had gotten himself into. His first impression of the Gilmore girls' house was, well, that it was perfect for Lorelai. It was sweet and quaint, but had a bit of a wild look about it, with overgrown grass, messy rain gutters full of leaves, and a burnt-out front porch light. Lorelai hadn't been kidding. This place was going to take some serious work. 

Luke heard some shouting, then Lorelai appeared at the door, her face flushed. Even though she was wearing just a pair of jeans and a tight blue t-shirt, she looked radiant as ever. "Come on in," she greeted Luke, motioning for him to follow her inside the house.

"I guess I should get started," Luke said. "I brought my toolbox with me."

Lorelai gasped and twirled around. "Dirty!" she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling devilishly.

"Geez," Luke swore. "Are you like this all the time?"

"Pretty much," she answered proudly. She pointed towards the kitchen. "Would you like something to eat?"

Luke nearly gagged when he saw the disgusting display of junk food spread across the table. There were chips, candy, cookies – essentially, anything that could give a person an instant heart attack. "You're actually going to eat this crap?" he gaped.

"Of course. We need our nourishment." Lorelai grabbed one Oreo from a pyramid of them and began munching on it.

"This is not nourishment. This stuff will kill you. Do you have any idea how bad this is for you? You should not be eating all this as a snack," Luke ranted.

"Oh, it's not a snack." Lorelai shook her head, dark curls bouncing. "It's our dinner."

Luke, at a loss for words, stared at a grinning Lorelai until interrupted by Rory's cries of, "Hi, Luke!"

He turned to see a pretty pink bedroom. The sweet girl was sitting at a desk, open book in front of her. "Oh, hey, Rory. I'm just over to fix some stuff around the house."

Rory smiled. "I know. Mom told me. I'm just working on some homework here."

"Oh, right. Well… study hard."

"I will."

They remained locked in an awkward silence for a few moments until Lorelai chimed in with, "Luke, why don't I put you to work?"

Luke followed Lorelai around the house (trying not to stare at the back of her figure too much) as she jabbered endlessly, pointing out one thing after another that needed to be fixed. They ended up in the front hallway, where Lorelai informed him that the front door lock was ineffective. Luke set to work on fixing the lock, and Lorelai went into the family room and settled down on the couch to watch TV. As he worked on the lock, she periodically yelled things at him. Once he'd finished, she put him to work at securing the fireplace mantle, which precariously wobbled whenever touched.

Luke heard giggling coming from behind him. "What?" he sighed, turning to glare at Lorelai.

"Nothing. Just keep working." Lorelai pressed her lips together. A small giggle escaped, and Luke's reproving glance prompted her to add, "Sorry."

Luke started hammering, and was interrupted by a snort from Lorelai. "What is wrong with you?" he grumbled.

"Sorry, it's just…" Lorelai appeared to be trying very hard not to burst into peals of laughter. "I can see your butt moving as you hammer those nails."

"My butt is not moving."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"You're delightful, you know that?" he scoffed sarcastically.

"Don't be ashamed, Luke. It's a very nice butt! I'm enjoying watching it. Really."

Luke sighed. He didn't think he'd sighed this many times in a 36- hour period ever before. "Stop lookin' at my butt. It's distracting."

"You can't even tell."

"Yes. I can."

"Okay," Lorelai finally conceded. "I'll stop looking." Her roguish grin told him otherwise.

Luke worked around the house, fixing various things and fending off Lorelai's obnoxious questions and silly flirtations, trying to pretend he wasn't enjoying them. Even though he had to get up early the next day, he couldn't bring himself to leave. He loved being in this house with funky furniture and decorations that paid homage to her colorful personality. Plus, he loved being around her. In addition to being crazy, she was also fun and warm. Repairing items around her home was a great excuse to be near her. Finally, once Rory had said goodnight to Luke, kissed her mother on the cheek, and disappeared into her bedroom with enough candy to make Willy Wonka sick, Luke regretfully told Lorelai that he was leaving.

"Okay, well, thanks so much for helping me out." Lorelai reached for her purse. "How much to I owe you?"

"Oh, you don't owe me anything," Luke said, waving his hand casually.

"Come on, Luke, what do you want for this?" Lorelai persisted.

How could he tell her that just being near her was all he really wanted? Instead, Luke settled for, "Nothing. I didn't mind doing it."

"Well… thank you. You're wonderful. Would you at least like a beer?" Lorelai offered.

"Sure. Thanks." Luke swallowed hard as Lorelai led him into the family room, a cold beer in each hand, and dropped down onto the couch.

Luke perched awkwardly on the couch and took a swig of beer as Lorelai shockingly said very little, compared to her usual pace. "I appreciate you coming out here," she said softly, mellowing with the late hour and the alcohol. "I've never owned a home before. My kid and I used to live in a shed at the Independence Inn, where I work."

"You mentioned that," Luke nodded.

"We moved there just after Rory was born. I had her when I was sixteen."

"Sixteen? Wow." Luke's mind reeled for a few seconds. Pregnant at sixteen? This woman had been through a lot. And yet, here she was, cheerful, bright, annoying, and beautiful. Luke sort of thought she was amazing.

"Yeah, it was really tough." Lorelai tugged absentmindedly at a curl with her fingers. "The toughest part, though, was dealing with my parents. They are these incredibly strict and judgemental people, and they were so worried about 'the social ramifications of Lorelai's mistake,'" she said mockingly, adopting a high pitch which, Luke assumed, was meant to imitate her mother's voice. Returning to normal speech, she added, "I had to get away from them. So I ran, and I took my daughter with me. I got a job at the Inn, and I worked my way up, and, well, that's how we got where we are."

Luke sat silent for a moment, processing Lorelai's life story. "That must have been tough." He looked at her in the soft, dim lighting with compassion, treasuring this more vulnerable side of Lorelai and wondering why he, of all people, was lucky enough to see it.

"It was hard sometimes," Lorelai agreed, her voice tender. "But I did what I thought was best for Rory. And I really love the Inn, and this house, so I guess you could say things have worked out perfectly."

"Perfectly, huh? How lucky for you."

"Well, not perfect exactly… but pretty damn close." Lorelai smiled. "Living here in this town, with so many friendly people who are so concerned about us – I feel like I've finally found a family who loves me for who I am, you know?"

Luke didn't know. He'd always thought the town was pretty crazy, and that the people were awfully pushy and overbearing much of the time. And love? What did he know about that? He'd only been in love once, and it had left him feeling, well, not good. But Luke didn't want to burden Lorelai with tales of his emotional life; he hated telling anyone those things. So he nodded in agreement, and they sat calmly for a few moments, just sipping beer and enjoying each other's company.

Luke reached the end of the bottle and set it down, empty, on the coffee table. "I really should get going. I have to be there really early to open the diner tomorrow," he explained.

"Oh, right," Lorelai mumbled. She followed him to the door. "Oh – don't forget Bert!"

"Bert?"

She picked up his toolbox and handed it to him.

"You named my toolbox Bert?" Luke asked incredulously.

"It just seems like a Bert," she mused. "Or do you think it's more of an Edward?"

"I think that you're more of an insane person."

"Hey! I am not insane. I just… like to have lots of friends. Even inanimate ones."

"I'm not going to ask." Luke opened the front door.

"Hey," he heard Lorelai breathe. He turned to see her, inches behind him, one hand on the door frame. "Thanks again."

"Uh… you're welcome." Luke braced himself, realizing that he was dangerously close to leaning in and kissing the gorgeous woman before him, and at the same time realizing that this would probably be a really bad idea. "I guess I'll see you at the diner sometime?"

"Tomorrow," Lorelai nodded. "I'll be there for breakfast. Now that I've had your coffee, I'm hooked."

Luke smiled and looked at her for a long moment, just taking in her beauty, before uttering a hasty "Good-bye" and ambling away.


	4. Chapter 4

"I need you to come pick up me and Rory." 

"What…" Luke mumbled groggily into the phone, rubbing his eyes. He glanced at the clock. 7:00 am. "Who _is _this?"

"It's Lorelai," his new friend exclaimed frantically.

"Why are you calling me?" Luke asked, still disoriented from having been woken up unexpectedly by the ringing phone.

"You have to come pick me up," she ordered him.

"What?" This was unbelievable, Luke thought. Lorelai could not possibly be serious.

"My Jeep won't start, and I need to get to work, and Rory needs a ride to school. But my friend Sookie's already at the Inn, and the concierge, Michel, won't come get me because he says sitting in the car will wrinkle his new suit, and I didn't know who else to call," Lorelai rambled.

"I was sleeping in today," Luke moaned, covering his eyes. What was she thinking? They hardly knew each other, and already she was being a huge pain in the ass.

"Please, Luke?" she begged.

Luke opened his mouth to protest, then stopped. "You're probably one of those people who will bother me until I agree to do what you want, aren't you?"

"You're a great judge of character."

Luke sighed. There was no way to win this one. "I'll be over in ten minutes."

"Wow, and I didn't even have to use my Louis Armstrong impression!" Lorelai gasped.

"Thank God," Luke muttered. He hung up the phone and proceeded to grumble to himself as he pulled on pants and a flannel shirt and slid his baseball cap over his hair. He was thoroughly annoyed with Lorelai, but at the same time, it was nice to wake up to her voice. Even if the voice was nagging and demanding. He couldn't explain it, but there was something pleasurable about being ordered around by Lorelai.

Luke pulled up in front of the house moments later. Lorelai flew out the door, disheveled, with Rory bouncing along behind her, adorable as ever.

"Thank you so much, Luke!" Lorelai panted as she hopped into the passenger's seat. She flipped back her hair, which was straight today. It cascaded over her shoulders like a shimmering fountain, and it was all Luke could do not to reach out and run his fingers through it – but he had more sense than that.

"So where are we going?" he asked.

"Let's head to Stars Hollow Elementary first, it's on the way to the Inn," Lorelai suggested.

"Fine. So how's school going for you, Rory?" Luke asked her daughter conversationally.

"Good. I have all A's," Rory told him. Excitedly, she added, "We're having a Thanksgiving play soon, and I get to be the turkey!"

"Well, isn't that… nice." Luke had terrible memories of being forced to participate in cheesy productions back when he went to that school, and he found it pretty strange that Rory was actually excited about dressing up as a giant turkey and doubtless singing some ridiculous song celebrating the fact that a bunch of obnoxious English people had invaded this beautiful land and spread disease to all of its inhabitants. Nevertheless, it was kind of cute to see Rory so wound up about the play.

The car pulled up in front of school, and Rory hopped out and immediately began chatting with a young Asian girl. "That's Lane," Lorelai explained. "She and Rory have been friends since she started kindergarten."

"Ah, that's the Kim girl, right?" Luke recalled a frightening encounter a few weeks ago with her mother, a small Korean woman who'd run into him at Doose's when he was picking up some extra ground beef and started lecturing him about nutrition, condemning him for selling greasy plates of death that would eventually lead to the detriment of Stars Hollow.

Lorelai affirmed that Lane was indeed Mrs. Kim's daughter, then started to tell him how to drive. "You missed the street!" she said wildly, looking backwards and punching Luke in the shoulder.

"Will you stop it?" he grumbled, swatting her hand away. "I know how to get to the Inn!"

"No you don't! You're going the wrong-"

"Will you stop telling me what to do?" Luke cried, exasperated.

"But you don't – oh." Lorelai broke off when she realized they were pulling into the parking lot of the Independence Inn, in less time than it normally took her to drive to work.

"I finally got you to stop talking?" Luke said, incredulously, then fleetingly worried that he had offended her.

Lorelai, however, remained cheerful. "Just for that, I'm going to come to the diner tonight, sit at the counter, and talk for an hour straight, Duke."

"Oh no, you're not going to start that Duke thing again, are you?" Luke sighed. "I got up at 7 in the morning for you."

"That's right, you did," Lorelai smiled. "I shall give you kisses of gratitude," she joked, her eyes sparkling.

Luke cleared his throat. "Geez," he said gruffly.

"Or, I'll just give you a tour of the Inn." She stepped out of the car and waved for him to follow her. "Come on, don't you want to see the place?"

Luke followed because he had no choice – how could he possibly resist her charm? He trailed behind her into the Inn, where a rude French man started muttering things under his breath and shooting them contemptuous looks.

"What's with that guy?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"Oh, that's Michel," she answered. "He's probably still mad at me for calling him a spineless snicklefritz when he refused to pick Rory and I up."

"A spineless what?" Luke was bewildered. He could hardly keep up with Lorelai even when she was speaking in English.

"Oh, that's just a word Rory and I use. It means curmudgeon, nincompoop, that kind of thing."

"Oh. Right."

As Luke followed Lorelai around the lobby, she began to narrate her history with the Inn. "When I came here, I had nothing. I was just a scared teenager with a baby on my arm. I had just gotten off the bus in this town because it looked nice; I had no further plan than that. I didn't even have a place to spend the night. I ran into Miss Patty pretty quickly, and she told me that this place was hiring. So I stormed in, and Mia took one look at me and gave me a job."

"She was probably scared not to," Luke commented. "You're a real terror when you haven't had caffeine."

Lorelai glared at him briefly, then continued. "I started at the bottom, as a maid, but I worked my way up really fast. Now I'm working at the front desk, greeting people, and making enough money to be able to afford a house for my kid and I."

Luke stared with admiration at the beautiful woman in front of him. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"What?" Lorelai's eyebrows crinkled a little. She looked more serious than he'd ever seen her.

"You're amazing. You started with nothing, and now you have a house and a cute kid who's getting A's in school. You should be proud of yourself," he offered somewhat timidly.

"Thanks," Lorelai said, placing a hand gently over her heart and still smiling at him solemnly. They stayed that way for who knows how long; time seemed to stop.

Eventually, Lorelai shook her head. "Right. Well, I should be getting to work."

"And I should be getting back to the diner," Luke pointed at the door.

"Right. Well-" They both said good-bye at the same time, smiled awkwardly, then turned and went about their business.

For the rest of the day, no matter how busy the diner got, Luke remained preoccupied. He just could not get the way that she looked at him out of his head.


	5. Chapter 5

Luke heard the door to the diner open. "We're closed for the night," he said. Looking up from the table he was wiping, he saw Lorelai, curls framed by the light from streetlamps outside. She was wearing a blue dress, something more delicate than the suits she usually came flying in from work in, and she looked positively radiant.

Luke cleared his throat. "Can I get you some coffee?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Lorelai grinned at him. She sat down on a seat at the counter, placing her purse onto the chair next to her.

Luke picked up a mug that was beautiful and colorful, just like her, and sat it down in front of her. He poured coffee into it and watched as she lifted the mug to her perfect lips. "I don't know how you do it, but your coffee is really the best I've ever had," Lorelai sighed contently.

"Want to know the trick?" Luke asked. He leaned forward, an arm on the counter, and lowered his voice. "I put a little cinnamon in it."

Lorelai lowered the coffee mug, and Luke stared into her eyes. Being this close to Lorelai was intoxicating. He could hardly breathe. She looked beautiful and smelled like a garden and... God, she was so perfect. It was all he could do not to lean in and kiss her.

"Thanks for being so good to me, Luke," Lorelai said softly. "I know I've kind of been a pain since I've moved in…"

"Kind of?" Luke interrupted her.

Lorelai gave him a pointed look, then continued, "It's really good to know I have a friend there for me. You are my friend… right?"

Luke slowly walked around the counter, so he was standing right next to Lorelai. "I'm your friend. I'm right here, whenever you need me." Their eyes met, and something passed between the two of them. Lorelai reached up and placed her palm on his cheek. Her eyes glittered, and she sighed slightly, happily. Then she pulled his face down to hers. Her soft lips touched his. Luke closed his eyes and inhaled her sweet scent and lost himself. It was like he was drinking in everything wonderful in life, everything beautiful. Lorelai brought something good into his life; he couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that somehow this felt right.

Lorelai slid off of the chair and stood before him. Luke buried his fingers in her curls and placed a hand on the small of her back, pulling her close. She wrapped her arms around him, and now she was pressing against him, whispering his name, asking him…

…Luke awoke with a jolt. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes. What the hell had just happened? Where had that dream come from?

Luke was pretty sure he knew what this meant. The loving way they'd looked at each other, the tender way they'd kissed… he had a hunch that these visions, along with the fact that he'd kept that stupid scrap of paper in his wallet for 2 weeks, indicated that he was falling for her. And though he'd never admit this to anyone, it scared the hell out of him. He'd felt this way about Rachel once, and look what had happened. Luke figured it was better to keep to himself than to let someone else into his life and run the risk that she would leave abruptly.

But after envisioning what that kiss could be like, Luke was finding it very difficult to turn his back on Lorelai completely. He was intrigued. Infatuated, even. There was really nothing left to do but accept it, right? The question was, now that he realized he had feelings for Lorelai, was he going to act on it? As wonderful as his dream had been, he seriously doubted that she was just going to waltz into the diner and kiss him. If anything was going to happen, it would have to be of his own accord.

Maybe he could ask her to dinner. That wasn't too terrifying. He'd asked women on dates a couple of times before and lived to tell about it. Surely he'd have ample opportunities: she came to the diner every damn day, after all, twice or even three times if she was really desperate for coffee.

Luke took a shower and then went to his closet. He threw on some jeans, reached for his favorite flannel shirt – then stopped. Should he wear something a little nicer, to catch her attention? He studied his more formal collared shirts, all two of them, then finally sighed in frustration. What was he, some kind of girl? Luke, disgusted with the fact that he'd actually spent two whole minutes trying to decide what to wear, grabbed a generic plaid shirt and buttoned it hastily.

He opened the diner and was just finishing up with the early morning rush when Lorelai and Rory entered, Rory stooped over from the weight of an overstuffed backpack, Lorelai wild-eyed, which Luke was beginning to recognize as a sign that she'd already had at least three cups of coffee at her house. "Luke, I need a massive cup of coffee," Lorelai begged.

Luke shook his head. "You've already had coffee. I can tell by the crazy look on your face."

"I know. But I want more," Lorelai answered eagerly.

"I'm not giving you more coffee."

"Please, Luke?" Lorelai shot him a powerful pout that sent his stomach into knots.

He managed to keep his resolve. "Coffee is bad for you. It rots your insides. You should have herbal tea, like me."

"Hm… what does herbal tea do, make you grumpy and pessimistic?"

"I'm not pessimistic, I just don't want your heart to stop working by the time you're thirty."

Lorelai pleaded, "I need the coffee, Luke. Michel has cousins coming in from France and staying at the Inn, and if I have to deal with an entire army of Michels all day I'm going to need more coffee than I've ever had just to keep from stabbing myself with a pen. Or stabbing one of them. I could start another revolution. Is that what you want?"

"I certainly don't want to be responsible for that," Luke finally caved, bringing two mugs to her table. For the next hour, he watched the two Gilmore Girls, knowing that the perfect opportunity had to arise. Not even Lorelai's sickening coffee addiction could keep him away, after the thought of her lips on his…

Luke shook his head. This was not the time to let his mind wander. He saw that Rory was headed for the bathroom, so he walked over to their table under the pretense of refilling their coffee.

When he arrived at the table, he remembered that he'd just been there. It was amazing what a small Lorelai Gilmore fantasy could do to his memory. "I was just gonna pour you some more coffee," he mumbled.

"Um… you just did like a minute ago." Lorelai held up the full mug. "But if you want to bring over another mug, I have no problem double-fisting. It will get the coffee in me faster!"

Luke briefly thought of reprimanding her, reminding her that she had a problem, but decided against it. He opened his mouth to speak, and nothing came out. Clearing his throat noisily, he began again. "I was wondering if, uh…"

Lorelai leaned forward, chin balanced on one hand, prepared to hear what he had to say.

"I just wondered… would you… do you…" Luke trailed off, wondering whether he could make it through. It wasn't that he was unable to ask out a woman, it was that Lorelai was so captivating that he found it difficult to remain focused on anything if he looked at her for too long.

"So, I guess I better head off to school," Rory's voice sounded. She slid into the chair across from her mother and grabbed for her backpack.

Lorelai checked her watch and added, "Yeah, I really have to get to work, or I'll have a lot of angry French people to deal with." She looked at Luke, a little more softly, and said, "We'll talk later?"

Luke nodded and watched as the two girls walked out the front door of the diner. Silently he cursed himself. Why did he pass up that opportunity? He'd floundered around until he ran out of time. Well, never again. Next time Lorelai came in, her was going to do it.

All day he worked up his courage in the hopes that Lorelai would appear. Dinner passed, however, without her presence. Finally, when he was wiping at table off at about sunset, he caught a glimpse of Rory walking down the street. Surely her mother was close behind.

Yes, there was Lorelai, linked arm-in-arm with… a man. Luke squinted to get a better view of this stranger. It wasn't anyone he'd ever seen in town before, he was sure of that.

He leaned towards a nearby table, where Miss Patty was sitting. "You know anything about this guy who's with Lorelai?" he asked, gesturing towards the window.

"I sure do, doll," Patty replied. She continued in hushed, reverent tones, "That's Christopher, Rory's Dad. The guy who Lorelai fell in love with in high school. He's in town, and the rumor is, he's going to try to win Lorelai back." She paused for a moment, drinking in the image of Chris. "I wouldn't blame her if she went for him. He sure is an attractive man."

Luke moved on, knowing he wouldn't get anything more from Patty now that she'd set her sights on a male. So Christopher was in town. He could feel a slight twinge in his heart. Just when he found someone he could see himself spending time with, she was about to be taken. Of course she would go to Christopher. Luke felt like nothing compared to the tall, good-looking, well-dressed man Lorelai was strolling down the street with. He hollered something to Caesar and then retreated to his apartment. He sunk down into a chair in front of the baseball game so he wouldn't have to think about the awful disappointment of losing Lorelai before he even had her.


End file.
